Method and system for preserving telephone numbers

ABSTRACT

The present invention allows a global telephone number be assigned to a first outbound-only telephone line connected to a first service switching point (SSP) to be also assigned to a second outbound-only telephone line connected to a second service switching point. The global telephone number can be used as many times as there are service switching points within a single area code region. In a preferred embodiment, in which an outbound-only telephone line subscriber also has a regular telephone line, all calls originated from the subscriber&#39;s outbound-only telephone line can be billed against the account of the subscriber&#39;s regular telephone line. The invention also allows multiple outbound-only telephone lines be billed against the account of a single regular telephone line. In addition, the invention also allows a subscriber of a regular telephone line that is used substantially or exclusively for outbound-only purposes to convert the regular telephone line into an outbound-only telephone line, thereby allowing the telephone number to reuse the global telephone number for an converted outbound-only telephone line.

This is a continuation application that claims the benefit of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/222,924 filed Aug. 19, 2002, now U.S.Pat. No. 6,574,316, which is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 09/333,035, filed Jun. 15, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,463,136.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates generally to telecommunication systems andmore particularly to a method and system for preserving telephonenumbers by eliminating the need for assigning a unique telephone numberfor each and every telephone line in service.

2. Background of the Invention

The expansion of telecommunications services and equipment such astelephones, fax machines, pagers, cellular telephones, and modems, hasresulted in a rapid growth in the demand for telephone numbers. Inaddition, the Internet has created a further demand for an even greaternumber of telephone numbers.

In the United States alone, new telephone numbers are increasing at arate 15 of about 12% per year, while the population is growing at a rateof only about 4%. This phenomenon is due in part to many subscribersoften having multiple telephone numbers. For example, one person couldwell have as many as six telephone numbers: a first number for a hometelephone, a second number for a home fax machine, a third number for anoffice telephone, a fourth number for an office fax machine, a fifthnumber for a cellular telephone, and a sixth number for a pager. Aseventh number might be necessary if he or she chooses to have dedicatedInternet access. In addition to the above-described personal demand fortelephone numbers, certain commercial entities, such as telemarketers,are also adding more telephone numbers for their businesses.

Under the current infrastructure of United States telecommunicationsystems, a telephone number is required for every telephone line inservice. A person with, e.g., six telephone lines would therefore havesix telephone numbers. A telemarketing company with 50 telephone linesmay have 50 telephone numbers.

The assignment of a specific telephone number to a specific telephoneline is necessary because the telephone number serves as an “address”for the corresponding telephone line. The telephone number alsoidentifies the caller as the person to whom the telephone company wouldcharge the associated telecommnunication services.

The ten-digit telephone number system of the United States containsthree main components: the first three digits are the “area code,” thenext three digits are the “exchange code,” and the remaining four digitsspecify a particular telephone line. The area code identifies thegeneral geographical areas of the United States. For example, alltelephone lines with the “202” area code are located physically inWashington, D.C. Similarly, all telephone numbers with the “404” areacode are physically located in the Atlanta area of Georgia. Within eacharea code, there are multiple exchange codes. For example, within thegeographical boundaries served by the “404” area code, there are manyactive exchange codes including, e.g., “659,” “249,” “628,” “444,” and“680.” Also within each area code, there is one or more exchange codesthat have been reserved from being issued to subscribers. In the “404”area code region, for example, reserved exchange code “203” is notavailable for assignment of telephone numbers. If this reserved exchangecode were to be made available for telephone number assignment, then upto 10,000 additional telephone numbers would be available for telephoneline subscribers located within the “404” area code region. Thesetelephone numbers would range sequentially from “404-203-0000” to“404-203-9999.”

The conventional solution to satisfy the demand for even more telephonenumbers (as thousands of telephone lines are being put to service everyday) is to add new area codes. Each new area code adds 1,000 additionalexchange codes. As explained above, each additional exchange code adds10,000 telephone numbers. As a result, the addition of one new area codeprovides 10,000,000 additional telephone numbers. This conventionalsolution, however, has many disadvantages. For example, the introductionof multiple area codes in a single city requires complex operationoverhead, and could result in consumer confusion, as well as result inadditional expenses to the telephone company. Furthermore, we couldeventually run out of the three-digit area codes which would then createthe need for creating four-digit or larger area codes.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an advanced intelligent networkstructure. Advanced intelligent network structures are described in U.S.Pat. No. 5,701,301, which is hereby incorporated by reference. In theexample shown in this schematic diagram, Subscriber A has a regulartelephone line 10 that is capable of two-way communications, namely,initiating and receiving communications. Regular telephone line 10 hasbeen assigned a unique telephone number, e.g., “404-777-1000.”Subscriber B of regular telephone line 20 has been issued a differentunique telephone number, e.g., “404.888-2000.” These subscriber data,along with other subscriber data such as their billing rates and mailingaddresses, are contained in customer record database 12. Customer recorddatabase 12 can easily update service management system (SMS) 13 toenable changes in service control point (SCP) 14 a's data. In apreferred embodiment, telephone line 10 also has either an off-hookimmediate or an off-hook delay trigger assigned to it.

When Subscriber A dials “404-888-2000” using a telecommunication device1 such as a telephone that is connected to regular telephone line 10, aservice switching point (SSP) 11 is triggered via, e.g., an off-hookimmediate trigger, to send query 17 to a service control point 14 a viaa signaling transfer point (STP) 15 of the SS7 signaling system providedwith the advanced intelligent network. Query 17 contains informationsuch as Subscriber A's unique telephone number “404-777-1000” (callingparty ID number) and the recipient's unique telephone number“404-888-2000” (dialed number) as well as the originating point code ofservice switching point 11, e.g., “252-112-001.” In essence, query 17 isa question from service switching point 11 asking service control point14 a how to process the telephone call. When service control point 14 areceives query 17, it consults database (DB) 14 b that in turnsrecognizes “404-777-1000.” As a result, service control point 14 aresponds to query 17 with instruction 18 directing service switchingpoint 11 to route the call to Subscriber B. Normal processing of thecall from Subscriber A to Subscriber B would require that Subscriber A'stelephone number be used for billing purposes and be recorded at SSP 11,along with Subscriber B's telephone number as the destination address.In addition, either subscriber may establish communication with Internetservice provider (ISP) 16 or Internet service provider 26 by dialing“404-123-4567” or “404-765-4321,” the unique telephone numbers of.Internet service provider 16 and Internet service provider 26,respectively.

In summary, routing a call requires a unique destination address and anoriginating billing information to properly complete the call.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention recognizes that not all telephones lines are beingused to both initiate and terminate communications. For example, anincreasing number of subscribers use additional telephone lines foroutbound-only purposes such as access to the Internet. Many corporationsuse telephone lines exclusively for making outbound-only calls, e.g.,telemarketing calls. As these telephone lines do not receive calls, theydo not require unique telephone numbers to serve as addresses. As longas a method exists for the telephone company to identify the callingparty for billing purposes, several outbound-only telephone lines couldbe assigned the same telephone number within a single area code.

The telecommunication system of the present invention allows a singletelephone number to be used repeatedly for multiple outbound-onlytelephone lines located within a common area code region. For example,in an area code region with 50 service switching points, a single globaltelephone number from the group of “404-203-XXXX,” where XXXX rangesfrom “0000” to “9999,” can be used 50 times, i.e., each serviceswitching point could use the same global telephone number to serve asingle outbound-only telephone line. In this example of 50 serviceswitching points, the present invention allows for up to 500,000outbound-only telephone lines (10,000 global telephone numbers withineach service switching point times 50 service switching points) withinthat area code. In a preferred embodiment where an outbound-onlytelephone line subscriber has a regular telephone line, the uniquetelephone number of the regular telephone line can be used for billingpurposes of the outbound-only telephone line.

The present invention also allows multiple outbound-only telephone linesto be billed against a single unique telephone number. For example,Company A served by a first service switching point has a regulartelephone line with unique telephone number “404-249-7000.” Company Amight also have three outbound-only telephone lines with globaltelephone numbers of “404-203-7001,” 404-203-7002; and “404-203-7003.”Calls from all three outbound-only telephone lines can be billed againstunique telephone number “404-249-7000.” As explained above, globaltelephone numbers “404-203-7001,” “404-203-7002,” and “404-203-7003” canalso be reassigned to other outbound-only telephone lines connected to aservice switching point other than the first service switching point.Similarly, any one of the 10,000 global telephone numbers used by thefirst service switching point can be reused by any one outbound-onlytelephone line served by any other service switching points.

In a preferred embodiment, all calls from a given outbound-onlytelephone line can be billed against its subscriber's regular telephoneline account. Referring now to FIG. 2, consider the example of twosubscribers, namely, Subscriber A and Subscriber B, who both residewithin a geographical region served by area code “404” for whichexchange code “203” has been reserved. Subscriber A has a uniquetelephone number of “404-777-1000” connected to a first serviceswitching point (SSP) 11, and Subscriber B has a unique telephone numberof “404-888-2000” connected to a second service switching point 21. Bothsubscribers have an outbound-only telephone line with the common globaltelephone number of “404-203-1111.” When Subscriber A attempts to useher outbound-only telephone line 30 for the first time, serviceswitching point 11 sends a query 37 to a service control point (SCP) 14a through service transfer point (STP) 15. Query 37 contains the globaltelephone number “404-203-1111” and the originating point code, e.g.,“252-112-001,” of service switching point 11. Similarly, when SubscriberB attempts to use his outbound-only telephone line 40 for the firsttime, service switching point 21 sends a query 47 to service controlpoint 14 containing the originating point code of the second serviceswitching point 21, e.g., “100-211 252,” and the “404-203-1111” globaltelephone number.

After receiving either of these two queries, service control point 14 ainstructs the appropriate service switching point to ask its subscriberfor his or her unique telephone number for billing purposes. Forexample, if the query comes from Subscriber A, service control point 14a would send an instruction 38 to service switching point 11 andSubscriber A would key in her unique telephone number “404-777-1000.”Following Subscriber A's authorization, any subsequent calls made bySubscriber A using her outbound-only telephone line 30 would causeservice control point 14 a to charge those calls against Subscriber A'sunique telephone number “404-777-1000.” Similarly, following the initialsetup, all calls originating from Subscriber B's outbound-only telephoneline 40 would be billed against Subscriber B's unique telephone number“404-888-2000.”

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide atelecommunication method and system where a single telephone number canbe used to service as many outbound-only telephone lines as there areservice switching points within a common area code region.

It is a further object of the present invention to utilize existingreserved exchange codes to serve thousands of outbound-only telephonelines and thereby eliminate the need for telephone companies to put newarea codes into service.

It is a still further object of the present invention to allow telephonecompanies to offer substantially lower rates for subscribers ofoutbound-only telephone lines.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide atelecommunication system where the need for complex operation overheadcan be reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an advanced intelligent networktelephone system.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention illustrating two subscribers of outbound-onlytelephone lines with an identical global telephone number.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the three stages of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the Line Set-Up Stage of the presentinvention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the Service Set-Up Stage of the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the Call Processing Stage of the presentinvention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing another preferred embodiment ofthe present invention illustrating one subscriber having multipleoutbound-only telephone lines and one regular telephone line.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing another preferred embodiment ofthe present invention illustrating how a telephone company can buy backtelephone 20 numbers from subscribers of regular telephone lines thatare used primarily for outbound-only purposes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention. In FIG. 2, Subscriber A also has an outbound-onlytelephone line 30 in addition to regular telephone line 10. In thispreferred embodiment, outbound-only telephone line 30 is equipped withan off-hook immediate (OHI) trigger 31, and it has a global telephonenumber, e.g., “404-203-1111” assigned to it. In a different embodiment,an off-hook delay trigger may be used instead of the off-hook immediatetrigger. The “404-203-1111” global telephone number is call “global”because it can be assigned more than once within a common area coderegion. For example, Subscriber B has subscribed to an outbound-onlytelephone line 40 that also has the same global telephone number, e.g.,“404-203-1111” assigned to it. One of ordinary skill in the art mightobserve that global telephone number “404-203-1111” may not be assignedto Subscriber C's outbound-only telephone line 60 because thatparticular global telephone number has already been assigned to anothertelephone line connected to service switching point (SSP) 11, namely,Subscriber A's outbound-only telephone line 30. Database (DB) 14 b hasall the information regarding Subscribers A, B, and C, their regulartelephone lines' unique telephone numbers, and their outbound-onlytelephone lines' global telephone numbers.

When Subscriber A attempts to initiate a call using outbound-onlytelephone line 30 for the very first time by using a telecommunicationdevice 3, off-hook immediate trigger 31 causes service switching point11 to issue a transaction capability application part (TCAP) message 37to service control point (SCP) 14 a that in turn queries database 14 bto determine the appropriate response to message 37. Similarly, whenSubscriber B attempts to use his outbound-only telephone line 40 for thevery first time, service switching point 21 sends query 47 to servicecontrol point 14 a containing the global telephone number “404-203-1111”number and the originating point code of service switching point 21.After consulting database 14 b, service control point 14 a sendsinstruction 48 that is similar to instruction 38, and Subscriber B wouldprovide his “404-888-2000” unique telephone number to verify database 14b and add the originating point code to database 14 b. Following thisset up, each subsequent call by Subscriber B using outbound-onlytelephone line 40 would be billed against Subscriber B's “404-888-2000”unique telephone number. Similarly, all calls from Subscriber A'soutbound-only telephone line 30 subsequent to the set up would beconsidered pre-authorized by Subscriber A to be billed against theaccount of “404-777-1111.”

As there are only two service switching points shown in the example ofFIG. 2, the global telephone number “404-203-1111” can only be usedtwice. In practice, global telephone number “404-203-1111,” or any oneof 10,000 global telephone number from the group of “404-203-XXXX” whereXXXX ranges sequentially from “0000” to “9999,” can be used as manytimes as there are service switching points in the geographical areaserved by “404” area code. For example, if there are seven serviceswitching points in the “404” area code region, then up to 70,000outbound-only telephone lines can be made available, with each of the10,000 “404-203-XXXX7 global telephone numbers serving seven differentsubscribers from seven different service switching points.

As shown in FIG. 2, Subscriber A could use her outbound-only telephoneline 30 to call Subscriber B's regular telephone line 20, Subscriber C'sregular telephone line 50, Internet service provider (ISP) 16, andInternet service provider 26. However, should Subscriber A try to usehis outbound-only telephone line 30 to call Subscriber C's outbound-onlytelephone line 60, that call would fail because Subscriber C is unableto receive calls using her outbound-only telephone line 60. Subscriber Awould attempt to be connected to the telephone number in their switchonly.

In a preferred embodiment, the telephone company might place aterminating attempt trigger (TAT) 62 on outbound-only telephone line 60.In such an embodiment, when service switching point 11 receives arequest to terminate a circuit to outbound-only telephone line 60,terminating attempt trigger 62 will interrupt the call. Service controlpoint 14 a can then be programmed to disallow the termination attempt tooutbound-only telephone line 60. Also, in the preferred embodiment ofthe present invention, when a subscriber dials any of “404-203-XXXX”global telephone numbers, a message from service control point 14 acould announce that the dialed “404-203-XXXX” telephone number does notreceive incoming calls. Alternatively, the message could include thetelephone number of the subscriber's telephone line that does receiveincoming calls.

In a different embodiment where a subscriber always uses hisoutbound-only telephone line to call a specific Internet serviceprovider, that subscriber can request the telephone company to specifythat each time the service control point receives a query from thesubscriber's service switching point, the service control point wouldalways instruct the service switching point to route the call to thepredetermined Internet service provider. For example, if Subscriber A inFIG. 2 uses her outbound-only telephone line 30 to call Internet serviceprovider 16 exclusively, then the system can be programmed such thateach time off-hook immediate trigger 31 is triggered, a query 57 fromservice switching point 11 would cause service control point 14 a torespond with instruction 58 for service switching point 11 to route thecall from outbound-only telephone line 30 to Internet service provider16.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the sequence of events undertaken by apreferred embodiment of the present invention previously described inFIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 3, the establishment and maintenance of thepresent invention involves three stages, namely, Line Set-Up 100,Service Set-Up 200, and Call Processing 300. Line Set-Up Stage 100includes the steps required to provision the line.

Service Set-Up Stage 200 includes the steps required to ensure a properbilling system is established. The final stage, Call Processing Stage300, includes the steps required to complete the call. In any embodimentof this invention, Line Set-Up Stage 100 and Service Set-Up Stage 200need only be performed once. Call Processing Stage 300, however, will beperformed each time an outbound-only telephone line subscriber initiatesa call.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the details of Line Set-Up Stage 100. Asshown in FIG. 4, when a subscriber calls the business office of thetelephone company to order an outbound-only telephone line in step 110,the telephone company generates a service order. The service ordergenerated by the telephone company includes the subscriber's billingnumber and the global telephone number to be assigned to thatsubscriber's new outbound-only telephone line. In the example ofSubscriber A in FIG. 2, the billing number is Subscriber A's regulartelephone number “404-777-1000,” and the global telephone numberassigned is “404-203-1111.” In a preferred embodiment in which thesubscriber wishes to route all calls from the outbound-only telephoneline to a specific Internet service provider, the service order willalso include the telephone number of the Internet service provider. Inthe example of Subscriber A, Internet service provider 16's telephonenumber “404-123-4567,” will be provided. In provisioning step 120, theservice order directs the service switching point to assign thesubscriber's outbound-only telephone line a global telephone number. InSubscriber A's case, the global telephone number “404-203-1111” isassigned to her outbound-only telephone line 30 which is physicallyconnected to Subscriber A's home.

In step 130, in a preferred embodiment, the telephone company places anoff-hook immediate trigger on the outbound-only telephone line andassigns a translation type, e.g., “99,” to this off-hook immediatetrigger. Alternatively, an off-hook delay trigger may be used instead.In step 140, the service order directs the service control point tocreate a database entry containing the subscriber's unique telephonenumber for billing purposes of the outbound-only telephone line, thenewly assigned global telephone number, and if appropriate, the Internetservice provider's telephone number. Specifically, for this example, thedatabase entry would include the following entries: the billing numberwould be Subscriber A's unique telephone number “404-777-1000,” theglobal telephone number would be “404-203-1111,” the Internet serviceprovider number would be “404-123-4567,” and a space for originatingpoint code to be added later.

FIG. 5 describes the steps involved in Service Set-Up Stage 200. Whenthe subscriber initiates a call in step 205 using the outbound-onlytelephone line, the off hook immediate trigger prompts the serviceswitching point to interrupt call processing and issue an OriginatingAttempt query to the service control point. The query includes standardinformation such as the calling party identification, charge number,translation type and originating point code of the service switchingpoint. As shown in step 210, the values for these parameters in theexample of Subscriber A described above are as follows:TranslationType=“99”; CallingPartyID “404-203-1111,” ChargeNumber“404-203-1111”; and originating point code (OPC) “252-112-001.”

In step 215 when the service control point receives the query containingTranslationType of “99,” the service control point looks up theCallingPartyID in the database. The service control point then comparesthe originating point code entry corresponding to the CallingPartyIDwith the originating point code received. If the originating point codesmatch in step 220, the service control point proceeds to the CallProcessing Stage 300. If the originating point codes do not match, itmeans that this subscriber's outbound-only telephone line has not beenset up previously. In that case, the service control point proceeds tostep 225 to set up the service.

In step 225, the service control point instructs the service switchingpoint to play an announcement to the subscriber requesting theadditional information. For example, the announcement might be “Pleaseenter your unique telephone number, followed by the pound sign.” Whenthe subscriber responds as instructed, the service switching pointreceives the outpulsed digits entered by the subscriber in step 230 andsends them to the service control point in step 235. The service controlpoint then verifies, in step 240, whether the billing number entered isvalid, i.e., it matches an existing billing number assigned to a regulartelephone line service. In database 14 b, if the number is valid, theservice control point updates the database to include the originatingpoint code of the service switching point in step 245.

Otherwise, the service control point instructs the service switchingpoint to play another announcement, in step 250, to inform thesubscriber of the error. As shown in FIG. 5, in one embodiment of thepresent invention the subscriber could be allowed to try again as shedid in step 230. Alternatively, in another embodiment, 20 the systemcould hang up as in step 255.

FIG. 6 illustrates the steps involved in Call Processing Stage 300. Instep 310, the query contains, among other data, the originating pointcode and the calling party identification. Upon verifying the billinginformation in the database in step 320, the service control pointresponds to the query by sending an Analyzed_Route Command with thedestination telephone number in step 330. In this response, the servicecontrol point inserts the billing and calling party information storedin the database in place of the information supplied by the serviceswitching point. In the example of Subscriber A in FIG. 2, serviceswitching point 11 is instructed that the proper ChargeNumber is“404-777-1000.” In a preferred embodiment, if in step 320 a destinationtelephone number has been preloaded, such as “404-123-4567,” the servicecontrol point inserts the preloaded destination telephone number storedin the database as the destination of the call. Again, as in the exampleof Subscriber A in FIG. 2, service switching point 11 would instructedto dial the number “404-123-4567.” In step 330, the service switchingpoint connects the subscriber's outbound-only telephone line to theInternet service provider and bills the charge number as supplied by theservice control point. In a different embodiment in which thedestination number has not been preloaded, the service switching pointplays an announcement in step 340 so that the subscriber could enter thecalled party's telephone number, and the service switching pointcollects the digits provided by the subscriber.

FIG. 7 shows a different embodiment of the present invention suitablefor 20 corporations subscribing to multiple lines for telemarketingpurposes. In this embodiment, Company A subscribes to one regulartelephone line 70 with unique telephone numbers “404-249-7000” and threeoutbound-only telephone lines, namely outbound-only telephone line 71,outbound-only telephone line 72, and outbound-only telephone line 73,with global telephone numbers of “404-203-7001,” “404-203-7002,” and“404-203-7003,” respectively. In this embodiment, every call from anyone for this group of three outbound-only telephone lines can be chargedagainst the “404-249-7000” unique telephone number account. Forcompanies with more than one regular telephone lines, similararrangements can be made. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, Company B hastwo regular telephone lines, namely regular telephone line 80 andregular telephone line 90. Company B also has multiple outbound-onlytelephone lines where calls from outbound-only telephone line 81,outbound-only telephone line 82, outbound-only telephone line 83 arecharged against regular telephone line 80, and calls from outbound-onlytelephone line 91, outbound-only telephone line 92, and outbound-onlytelephone line 93 can be billed against Company B's regular telephoneline 90 account. Global telephone numbers “404-203-7001,”“404-203-7002,” and “404-203-7003,” that have previously been assignedto outbound-only telephone line 71, outbound-only telephone line 72, andoutbound-only telephone line 73, respectively, can be used again foroutbound-only telephone line 81, outbound-only telephone line 82, andoutbound-only telephone line 83 in any combination. After being usedonce in service switching point (SSP) 21, they may not be used again foroutbound-only telephone line 91, outbound-only telephone line 92, oroutbound-only telephone line 93.

In the specific example above, where Company A and Company Bcollectively subscribe to a total of 12 telephone lines (three regulartelephone lines and nine outbound-only telephone lines), only ninetelephone numbers have been issued because each of the global telephonenumbers “404-203-7001,” 404-203-7002,” and “404-203-7003” is used twice.The saving of telephone numbers will be greater as the number of serviceswitching points increases within the advanced intelligent network. Thepresent invention allows calls from more than three outbound-onlytelephone lines to be billed against a single regular telephone lineaccount. The example described above does not limit scope of theinvention.

FIG. 8 represents another embodiment of the present inventiondemonstrating the reuse of telephone numbers. In the example shown inFIG. 8, Subscriber D has two regular telephone lines, namely regulartelephone line 800 and regular telephone line 801, with unique telephonenumbers of “404-777-8000” and “404-777-8001” assigned to them,respectively. Subscriber D, however, dedicates regular telephone line801 exclusively for outbound-only calls to Internet service provider(ISP) 16. Subscriber D only receives calls using her regular telephoneline 800. In this situation, telephone number “404-777-8001” ispractically “wasted” in light of the present invention. As a result, thetelephone company could offer to convert regular telephone line 801 toan outbound-only telephone line 801 a for Subscriber D with anincentive, e.g., a lower subscription fee. If Subscriber D agrees, thetelephone company can convert regular telephone line 801 to anoutbound-only line 801 a that functions like outbound-only telephoneline 30 described in FIG. 2. Following the conversion, the newoutbound-only telephone line 801 a may use a global telephone number“404-203-XXXX,” e.g., “404-203-3333” that has not been used elsewherewithin service switching point (SSP) II. As explained above, this globaltelephone number “404-203-3333” could be reused elsewhere within theadvanced intelligent network for a telephone line connected to a serviceswitching point other than service switching point 11. The conversion ofregular telephone line 801 to outbound-only telephone line 801 a resultsin the saving of unique telephone number “404-777-8001.” The uniquetelephone number “404-777-8001” can be used elsewhere, for example, asthe unique telephone number for regular telephone line 802 of SubscriberE. The identification of subscribers, such as Subscriber D, can be doneby means including, but not limited to, a survey, an analysis of howsubscribers use their telephone lines, an offer of outbound-onlytelephone lines at lower subscription rates, and various promotionalcampaigns through the media.

The foregoing disclosure of embodiments and specific examples of thepresent invention have been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise forms disclosed. Many variations andmodifications of the embodiments described herein will be obvious to oneof ordinary skill in the art in light of the above disclosure. The scopeof the invention is to be defined only by the claims appended hereto,and by their equivalents.

1. A telephone network comprising: a first outbound-only telephone lineconnected to a first switch; and a second outbound-only telephone lineconnected to a second switch, wherein the first outbound-only telephoneline and the second outbound-only telephone line share a globaltelephone number.
 2. The network of claim 1, wherein each of the firstswitch and the second switch is associated with an area code.
 3. Thenetwork of claim 1, wherein the global telephone number comprises anarea code.
 4. The network of claim 1, wherein the global telephonenumber is assigned to a finite number of outbound-only telephone lines,wherein the finite number equals a number of switches associated with anarea code.
 5. The network of claim 1, wherein the first switch isassociated with a first exchange code, the second switch is associatedwith a second exchange code, and the global telephone number isassociated with a third exchange code.
 6. The network of claim 5,wherein the third exchange code is different from each of the firstexchange code and the second exchange code.
 7. A method comprising:receiving a request for a new telephone number for a first outbound-onlytelephone line; determining an identity of a first switch associatedwith the first outbound-only telephone line; and assigning a globaltelephone number to the first outbound-only telephone line, wherein theglobal telephone number is assigned to two or more outbound-onlytelephone lines.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the global telephonenumber is assigned to a second outbound-only telephone line associatedwith a second switch.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the first switchand the second switch are located within a geographical areaidentifiable by an area code, wherein the global telephone numbercomprises the area code.
 10. The method of claim 7, wherein the globaltelephone number is assigned to a finite number of outbound-onlytelephone lines, wherein the finite number is determined by a number ofswitches within a the geographical area.
 11. The method of claim 7,wherein the first switch is associated with a first exchange code, thesecond switch is associated with a second exchange code, and the globaltelephone number is associated with a third exchange code.
 12. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the third exchange code is different fromthe first exchange code and the second exchange code.
 13. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the third exchange code is same as one of the firstexchange code and the second exchange code.
 14. A method comprising:allocating a block of global telephone numbers for outbound-onlytelephone lines; receiving a first request for a new telephone numberfor a first outbound-only telephone line; determining an identity of afirst switch associated with the first outbound-only telephone line;assigning a first global telephone number to the first outbound-onlytelephone line; receiving a second request for a new telephone numberfor a second outbound-only telephone line; determining an identity of asecond switch associated with the second outbound-only telephone line;and assigning the first global telephone number to the secondoutbound-only telephone line if the second switch is different from thefirst switch.
 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising assigning asecond global telephone number to the second outbound-only telephoneline if the second switch is also the first switch.
 16. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the first global telephone number and the secondglobal telephone number share a common area code and a common exchangecode.
 17. The method of claim 14, wherein each global telephone numberof the block of global telephone numbers comprises an area code and anexchange code.
 18. The method of claim 14, wherein all global telephonenumbers of the block of global telephone number share an area code. 19.The method of claim 14, wherein all global telephone numbers of theblock of global telephone numbers share an exchange code.
 20. The methodof claim 14, wherein each global telephone number of the block of globaltelephone number is assigned to a finite number of outbound-onlytelephone lines, wherein the finite number is determined by a number ofswitches.